An international team of scientists, including researchers from the University of Florida and Trinity College Dublin, has solved a mystery that has puzzled scientists for decades:
how a little-known nutrient called queuosine gets into human cells. This breakthrough could lead to new ways to improve brain health, treat cancer, and understand how our diet and gut bacteria affect our genes.
Queuosine (pronounced “cue-o-scene”) is a tiny nutrient that our bodies can’t make on their own. We get it only from food and the helpful bacteria in our digestive system.
Although it plays a key role in keeping our brains healthy, helping our bodies respond to stress, and protecting us from diseases like cancer, it has remained mostly unknown to the public—and even to many scientists.
In a new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers have identified the gene that allows queuosine to enter human cells. This gene, called SLC35F2, had been known for its connection to how viruses and some cancer drugs get into cells. But until now, scientists didn’t know what it did under normal conditions.
“For more than 30 years, scientists believed there had to be a special transporter for queuosine, but no one could find it,” said Valérie de Crécy-Lagard, a microbiology professor at the University of Florida and one of the lead authors of the study.
“We’ve finally found it. This opens up an exciting new area of research into how our microbiome and diet can influence our genes.”
Queuosine works by modifying molecules called transfer RNA (tRNA), which are essential for building proteins in the body. Proteins do most of the work in our cells and are made based on instructions from our DNA.
The tRNA molecules help decode those instructions. Queuosine acts like a fine-tuner, helping tRNA read the genetic code more accurately and efficiently. In short, it helps our cells build proteins the right way.
Vincent Kelly, a professor at Trinity College Dublin and another senior author of the study, said that queuosine has been linked to important functions like brain development, metabolism, cancer prevention, and even how we react to stress.
However, no one understood how this molecule traveled from the gut to the trillions of cells that need it—until now.
Queuosine was first discovered in the 1970s, but for many years its role in human health wasn’t fully appreciated. This new discovery could bring queuosine into the spotlight and help researchers learn how to use it in new therapies.
With a better understanding of how this nutrient gets into cells, scientists may be able to design treatments that improve its function or mimic its effects.
The research was a team effort, involving experts from the University of Florida, San Diego State University, the Ohio State University, and institutions in Ireland and Northern Ireland. The study was supported by major health research organizations, including the National Institutes of Health in the U.S. and similar agencies in Ireland and Northern Ireland.
“We couldn’t have done this without collaboration across countries,” said de Crécy-Lagard. “It’s a great example of what we can accomplish when scientists around the world work together.”
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The study is published in PNAS.
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